Hear Tyler Childers’ New Song ‘Snipe Hunt’

Tyler Childers played a new song for a live audience in Norway in January that he calls "Snipe Hunt." Readers can press play above to watch a video of the performance. The cleverly penned lyrics, set to acoustic guitar, speak about the coming of age in life and the naivete that we've all experienced.

When Childers asks his Norwegian audience if they go snipe hunting, he receives a good laugh in response, indicating that the long-held tradition has reaches beyond North America.

"This isn't about that," Childers says, "it's about people that get under your skin."

But the lyrics tell a story of lessons learned the hard way: When the lesson arrived / It only took me a minute to learn there are some things are better off freezing / I can tell you a few that I've found," the first verse ends.

"Hate is a thing that can poison your veins / And get in your eyes when you're sweating on stage / Shifting around 4 o'clock on the wall / Tell you it's almost over / Vans that keeps rolling / And time's for the birds / The chirp in your ears / All the rumors they heard / Flying above all the good in this world / S--tting on cattle and clover."

The song goes on to tell the story of being misled by people and betrayed by relationships, explained by the metaphor of snipe hunting. While a snipe is a variety of bird that does exist, a "snipe hunt" refers to a practical joke or hazing ritual in which a more experienced group tricks a newcomer into going on a wild goose chase for a made-up creature that he or she is never going to be able to find.